Useless
by GameCubeGirl1
Summary: WARNING! Spoilers for season 11 episode 17: Fire Maker. Kai's thoughts as he sits in utter despair at the dying fire, wishing he wasn't so useless.


****WARNING! Spoilers for season 11 episode Fire Maker.****

**I...I sincerely apologise, I really do ._.**

**After watching the season 11 episode Fire Maker recently..this just would not leave me alone, so I sincerely apologise if you're going into this being unfamiliar with the episode.**

**I'm aware very little may have seen this episode at this point, and normally I would leave stories on recent things for a while until I was sure most had seen them but..this just _would not leave me alone D:_**

**Kai has been really tugging at my heartstrings in this season, especially in this episode, that darn hot-headed sweet bean that he is ;_;  
**

**PS: If you were looking for Hakuna Matata, Ninjago? To be updated soon..erm..that story kinda hit me with a serious block so..it might be a little while yet, I'm so sorry **

**Anyway, on with this little Kai ficlet!**

* * *

There was nothing he could do.

He was useless.

Useless.

_Useless._

He barely registers Sorla gently wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, but Kai couldn't even let himself relish in the warmth. He didn't deserve it.

Sorla treated Kai and the others like part of their village, she saved their lives. Brought them into the warmth, sheltered them, clothed them, fed them, _cared_ for them.

And what did the people of Great Lake gain in return? Their village ravaged by the Ice Emperor's army, their Hearths Fire attacked, the only thing giving them warmth and life, destroyed. It had burned for _decades_, then Kai and the others enter this realm and within days their only source of life is destroyed?

No, Kai could not relish in the comforting warmth, not when all he could think was that this was all his fault, and there was nothing he could do.

He lost his powers to Aspheera, he let her take his powers, there was nothing he could do then.

And there was nothing he could do now.

He hated being so useless.

Unconsciously he pulls the blanket tighter around himself, whether as an attempt to hide his guilt or shelter himself from the cold air one could not really tell. He gazes up at the moon through the roof, letting his mind wander through recent events. He wonders how similar the moon here is to the one back in Ninjago, he wonders if they will ever get back home.

And he wonders if Master Wu would ever forgive them.

Kai averts his gaze back to the floor, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Things just….seem so hopeless now.

On the other side of the burned-out fire pit, Kai's eyes land on a young girl and her mother, huddling together to conserve heat. The little girl cuddles further into her mother as she tells her she's cold, visibly shivering as her father places a blanket around them both.

Kai looks away from the family in shame. At this rate these people would be lucky to see out the rest of the week before succumbing to the harsh winter temperatures of this realm.

And it would be all his fault.

The irony of the situation isn't lost on Kai, he knows the people of Great Lake would not be freezing to death in the first place if he and the others hadn't come here looking for Zane, which wouldn't have happened if they hadn't gone looking for a quest..

…which wouldn't have happened if they hadn't let themselves get lazy.

Kai screws his eyes shut, both in despair and guilt, a single tear escapes and slowly makes its way down his cheek.

"I'm sorry." His voice was heavy and thick with regret, so much could have been done to prevent these people from being attacked by the Ice Emperor's army, the one power that would've been most useful against them, he had let be taken from him.

At his voice, his brothers and sister turned to him, perhaps thinking he was apologising for what happened to these people and what they have lost. A hand settles on his shoulder from behind, the weight of it alone suggested it was Cole's.

But for Kai, it was the guilt that weighed on his shoulders most of all, even the thick blanket from Sorla held no weight to it in comparison to the heavy guilt he had carried with him on his shoulders into this realm.

Sorla turned to him, eyes and expression as kind as always despite the dire situation.

"It is not your fault Kai." She replies kindly. Sorla reminds Kai oh so much of Master Wu, her compassion, her wisdom, her leadership, even her fondness for him and the other ninja despite knowing them only a short time.

It tugs at his heartstrings when he remembers that the last time they saw their beloved Master he was…in anything but a kind mood.

Yet another person he had let down.

Kai gives a heavy sigh before turning to Sorla, expression pinched in worry, "I just wish there was something I could do."

"You have done all you can, have you not?" At this, Kai could have sworn he caught some kind of sparkle in Sorla's eyes, as if….as if she knew more than she was letting on.

But….had he? Earlier she told Kai that elemental power can never be stolen, so….does that mean..?

He took a moment to steel himself, before suddenly jumping up in determination, startling the others in the process.

Then he tries.

Oh how he _tries._

He tries to bring forth the energy from deep inside the very core of his being, willing it to come to his fingertips, grunting in exertion as he feels adrenaline pumping through his body, trying oh so hard to conjure up the fire that lays dormant inside him.

All eyes are on him, it's now or never, do or die…literally.

Finally, a familiar energy begins to flow up into his chest and down through his arms, he grunts louder as a spark appears, several of the villagers now standing in complete shock.

Kai doesn't notice Sorla's all-knowing smile.

With a final roar of exertion, he wills the last of his energy to come forth, fire spewing from his hands and onto the blackened wood…and the Hearths Fire is restored.

He did it. He _did it!_

And he had his powers back.

_He had his powers back!_

Whether out of sheer relief or the adrenaline beginning to ebb from his body, Kai slumps over in exhaustion, Cole jumping up quickly to grab his arm and steady him before he falls over.

"Fire maker."

"_Fire maker."_

"_FIRE MAKER!"_

The villagers continue their chant, celebrating the return of their life-giving fire.

"I…I did it!" Kai's voice is hoarse, but his friends hear it just as well.

"You sure did!" His sister exclaims.

"Just listen to them!" Yells Lloyd.

He did it. He brought their fire back, got his _powers_ back..

…and saved the lives of the people of Great Lake.

The guilt he carried here with him..suddenly doesn't seem so heavy anymore.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.


End file.
